Sanitized Water Dispenser

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for sanitizing a water dispenser that dispenses water for human consumption is disclosed. The dispenser can be in the form of any dispenser that dispenses water for human consumption employing a reservoir that dispenses water through one or more spigots. Water in the reservoir is sanitized with an air/ozone gas mixture that is transmitted to a porous polymeric diffuser having a central bore and a porous wall. The porosity of the porous wall defines bubble size.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/830,918,filed 6 Jul. 2010 (issuing as U.S. Pat. No. 8,387,409 on 5 Mar. 2013),which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/457,365,filed 13 Jul. 2006 (issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,748,233), which is acontinuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/996,328, filed on 28 Nov. 2001 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,175,054), whichis a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/881,796, filed on 15 Jun. 2001, published as 2003-0000966 A1 on 2Jan. 2003 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,382), and a continuation-in-part ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/954,849, filed on 18 Sep. 2001,published as 2002-0069664 A1 on 13 Jun. 2002 (now U.S. Pat. No.6,532,760), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/472,320, filed on 23 Dec. 1999 (now U.S. Pat. No.6,289,690), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/220,554, filed on 23 Dec. 1998 (now U.S. Pat. No.6,085,540), each of which are incorporated herein by reference.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/457,365, filed 13 Jul. 2006 (issuingas U.S. Pat. No. 7,748,233), is also a continuation-in-part ofco-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/173,133, filed on 17 Jun.2002, and published as 2003-0071069 A1 on 17 Apr. 2003, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/996,328,filed on 28 Nov. 2001 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,175,054), which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/881,796,filed on 15 Jun. 2001, published as 2003-0000966 A1 on 2 Jan. 2003 (nowU.S. Pat. No. 6,561,382), each of which are incorporated herein byreference.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable

REFERENCE TO A “MICROFICHE APPENDIX”

Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to sanitized water dispensers. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatusfor dispensing ozone to the reservoir of a water dispenser thatdispenses water for human consumption, wherein an improved diffuser ofan ozone resistant porous polymer material receives ozone gas anddispenses very tiny bubbles into the water contained in the reservoir.

2. General Background of the Invention

Patents have issued for systems that dispense ozone to a water dispenserso that the ozone sanitizes any water that it is to be subsequentlydispensed to and consumed by a user.

Other patents have issued that relate to polymeric diffuser materials.

The following U.S. Patents of Table 1 are possibly relevant to thepresent invention and incorporated herein by reference:

TABLE 1 ISSUE DATE PAT. NO. TITLE MM-DD-YYYY 2,297,248 Porous Materialsand Process of 09-29-1942 Making 3,007,334 Method and Apparatus for11-07-1961 determining the Maximum Pore Size of Hydraulic FilterElements 3,166,615 Method of Forming Porous Rigid 01-19-1965 Structures3,238,056 Microporous Materials and 03-01-1966 Process of Making theSame 3,246,767 Fluid-Permeable Materials and 04-19-1966 Process ofMaking the Same 3,353,682 Fluid-Permeable Fibrous 11-21-1967 MultilayerMaterials and Process of Making the Same 3,416,776 Device for Aerating,Preferably, 12-17-1968 Waste Water 3,520,418 Filter Elements and the07-14-1970 Manufacture Thereof 3,538,020 Fluid Purification Device11-03-1970 Containing a Cartridge of Polymer Entrapped AggregateParticles 3,603,509 Gas Dispersing Apparatus 09-07-1971 3,644,231 PorousMember for Diffusing Air 02-22-1972 and Process for Producing the Same3,825,640 Process for Manufacturing a 07-23-1974 Porous, Solid, Article3,978,176 Sparger 08-31-1976 4,082,893 Porous Polytetrafluoroethylene04-04-1978 Tubings and Process of Producing Them 4,382,867 In Place GasCleaning of 05-10-1983 Diffusion Elements 5,262,096 Gas DiffusionArticle 11-16-1993 5,422,043 Diffuser and Diffusing Method 06-06-1995Using Dual Surface Tensions 5,431,861 Method and Apparatus for07-11-1995 Producing a High Concentration Ozone Water Solution 5,858,283Sparger 01-12-1999 5,863,576 Water Ozonation Treatment 11-04-1997Apparatus 6,481,219 Disinfection System and Method 11-19-2002 of UsingSame 6,561,382 Method and Apparatus for 05-13-2003 Disinfecting a WaterCooler and its Dispensing Spigot(s) 6,568,900 Pressure Swing Contactorfor the 05-27-2003 Treatment of a Liquid with a Gas

Some porous polymer gas diffuser materials have been used in an air towater diffusion environment such as in an aquarium. One such aquariumair diffuser device is sold by Regent Pet Products of Moore Park, Calif.and sold under the trademarks Aquatech™, and Bubble Curtain™.

Incorporated herein by reference are all of our prior patents, patentapplications, and published patent applications, including thefollowing:

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/457,365, filed 13 Jul. 2006, issuingas U.S. Pat. No. 7,748,233; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/220,554,filed on Dec. 23, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,085,540; PCT/US99/27248,filed on Nov. 17, 1999, and published as WO 2000/38815 on Jul. 6, 2000;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/472,320, filed on Dec. 23, 1999, nowU.S. Pat. No. 6,289,690; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/881,796,filed on Jun. 15, 2001, published as 2003-0000966 A1 on Jan. 2, 2003,now U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,382; U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/954,849, filed on Sep. 18, 2001, published as 2002-0069664 A1 on Jun.13, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,760; PCT/US02/19158, filed on Jun. 17,2002, and published as WO 2002/02706 on Dec. 27, 2002; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/463,870, filed on Jun. 17, 2003, and publishedas 2004-0074252 A1 on Apr. 22, 2004, which claims priority from U.S.provisional application No. 60/389,439, filed on Jun. 18, 2002, nowexpired; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/875,078, filed on Jun. 23,2004, and published as 2005-0087554 A1 on Apr. 28, 2005; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/967,812, filed on Oct. 16, 2004, which claimspriority from U.S. provisional application No. 60/511,986, filed on Oct.16, 2003, now expired; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/109,913,filed on Apr. 20, 2005, and published as 2005-0236432 A1 on Oct. 27,2005, which claims priority from U.S. provisional application No.60/564,178, now expired; PCT/US05/14118, filed on Apr. 21, 2005.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the use of commonly available,inexpensive, food grade porous polymer gas diffuser materials as part ofan overall method and apparatus for sanitizing a water dispenser withozone gas.

A diffuser ring is supported with a plurality of supports or stand-offsthat can be made of a food grade ozone resistant elastomeric materialsuch as silicone, Tygon® or Viton®.

Each of these supports or stand-off provides a radiused base thatconforms to the reservoir basal corner curvature. Each support can besecured to a diffuser that is elongated, hollow and tubular intransverse cross section and circular in shape, tracking the wall of acylindrically shaped reservoir. Food grade silicone sealer or epoxy canbe used to join the stand-offs or supports to the elongated ringdiffuser.

The elongated porous polymeric diffuser has a memory and thus canfunction as a spring, attempting to return to a straight configurationso that it holds the stand-offs or support against the sidewall of thereservoir. The diffuser has a bore that is surrounded by a porouspolymeric wall.

The material that forms the diffuser is of a porous polymer materialthat is highly resistant to ozone degradation over extended periods oftime. The ozone is diffused through the ring diffuser wall. Thisdiffused ozone preferably has a small concentration of ozone of at leastup to about 0.5% by weight ozone in air.

The diffuser can be made of compressed glass or mineral or ozoneresistant polymer fiber like polypropylene matting or mesh impregnatedwith thermo-setting resins that shrink on curing, leaving fine poresbetween spaces in the mesh or matting.

The importance of these food grade porous polymer fiber compositematerials to ozone gas diffusion in cost sensitive micro-skillapplications stems from their low cost, lower pressure loss, resistanceto ozone, resistance to biofilming and pore fouling, ease of bubble sizeand pressure loss alteration, ease of formation and thermal bending ateither an uncured or cured state to achieve complex shapes of smallspace saving tubing diameter into the preferred ring or rectangulardiffusers, rigidity, flexibility toughness and impact resistance,thinness and lightweight.

These desirable features of the diffuser of the present invention placethem apart from more costly, high thermal formation temperature, highlyprocess intensive, conventional ozone industry standard brittle and lowimpact resistant diffuser materials consisting of porous centered metaland ceramics.

Past difficulties experienced with these conventional higher weightmaterials, such as an inability to meet necessary price points, materialproperties quality control during manufacture, breakage in manufacture,shipping and installation has dictated the need for less problematicmaterials capable of producing like or better properties.

The porous resin bonded fibrous composite materials of the presentinvention meet the necessary criteria for ozone diffusion in micro-skillapplications such as water dispenser sanitation designed to drasticallyreduce the sanitary maintenance cost of water dispensers.

The method and apparatus of the present invention provides a costeffectiveness such that the diffuser can be classified as a quickchange, throw away and replace material when fouled. This eliminates theproblem of scheduled maintenance in acid and acid gas bleaching andcleaning that is required for the more expensive porous metal andceramic diffusers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

For a further understanding of the nature, objects, and advantages ofthe present invention, reference should be had to the following detaileddescription, read in conjunction with the following drawings, whereinlike reference numerals denote like elements and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partial plan view of a preferred embodiment of the apparatusof the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of a preferred embodiment of theapparatus of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a preferred embodiment of the apparatus of thepresent invention designated generally by the numeral 10. Sanitizedwater dispenser 10 can be used with any water dispenser such as theinverted bottle type dispenser that is commonly sold nationwide such asOasis® water coolers or dispensers for example. The dispenser can be anyother dispenser for dispensing water for human consumption such as pointof use types. Such a water dispenser can be seen generally in the DavisU.S. Pat. Nos. 6,085,540; 6,289,690 and 6,532,760 or the Shelton U.S.Pat. No. 6,561,382, each of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

Such a water dispenser per se is known having a cabinet housing a watercontaining reservoir, spigots for dispensing water from the reservoir tobe consumed, a water supply for refilling the reservoir and in someversions a cooling system for refrigerating water that is contained inthe reservoir or a heating system for heating water that flows from thereservoir.

In FIG. 2, a reservoir 11 is shown and for purposes of clarity withoutthe other known components of a water dispenser such as those shown anddescribed with respect to the above referenced Davis and Sheltonpatents.

Reservoir 11 has an interior 12. The reservoir 11 can provide a sidewall13 that is preferably cylindrically shaped and a bottom wall 14. Acurved corner 24 can be used to interface sidewall 13 and bottom wall14.

An influent flow line 15 is an influent gas flow line that can be usedto transport ozone (e.g. in a mixture with air) from a position withinthe cabinet of the water dispenser 10 or from a location next to thecabinet of the water dispenser 10. Influent gas flow line 15 connects toporous polymeric diffuser 18 with end cap 17 having stab fitting 16. Theporous polymeric diffuser 18 is an elongated hollowed, tubular structurehaving a bore 26 that conveys an ozone or ozone and air mixture betweenend cap 17 and end cap 19.

Because the diffuser 18 is a porous polymeric material, it provides alarge plurality of small pores 27 through which ozone and air in amixture diffuse and then contact water contained in the interior 12 ofreservoir 11. Diffuser 18 is thus contained within reservoir 11 belowits water surface.

The porous polymeric diffuser 18 is supported with a plurality ofsupports 20, each having a bottom surface 21 and a vertical side surface23. A curved corner surface 22 connects the surfaces 21, 23 and is sizedand shaped to fit closely to and conform to the corner 24 of reservoir11 as shown in FIG. 2.

Supports 20 are spaced circumferentially about reservoir 11, eachpreferably contacting sidewall 13 and bottom wall 14 as shown in FIG. 2.The diffuser 18 has a memory and can be manufactured as a straighttubular member and later bent into the shape shown in FIG. 1 forinstallation. Arrow 25 thus illustrates that the diffuser 18 isattempting to return to its original linear shape thus providing aspring action for holding each of the supports 20 against the wall 13 ofthe reservoir 11.

The following is a list of parts and materials suitable for use in thepresent invention.

PARTS LIST Part Number Description 10 sanitized water dispenser 11reservoir 12 interior 13 side wall 14 bottom wall 15 influent gas flowline 16 stab fitting 17 end cap 18 porous polymeric diffuser 19 end cap20 support 21 bottom surface 22 curved corner surface 23 vertical sidesurface 24 corner 25 arrow 26 bore 27 pore

All measurements disclosed herein are at standard temperature andpressure, at sea level on Earth, unless indicated otherwise. Allmaterials used or intended to be used in a human being arebiocompatible, unless indicated otherwise.

The foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only; thescope of the present invention is to be limited only by the followingclaims.

1-6. (canceled)
 7. A cooled water dispenser, comprising: a) a cabinethaving a contained water dispensing system that includes a water source,a reservoir, a porous polymeric diffuser having pores for emitting ozonebubbles, and a dispensing spigot; b) a refrigeration system for coolingwater contained in the water dispensing system; c) an ozone generatorhousing supported by the cabinet, said housing having an ozone generatorinside the housing and air flow lines for transmitting air to and fromthe housing interior; d) a blower for generating air flow; e) a firstair flow line connecting the blower and the housing interior; f) asecond air flow line connecting the housing interior with the porousdiffuser; and g) means for adding ozone to the water dispensing systemwhen the spigot is operated, said means including the ozone generator,blower, diffuser having pores, and flow lines; h) wherein the diffusergenerates bubbles of a size that is defined by the size of the pores ofthe diffuser.
 8. The water dispenser of claim 7 wherein the diffuser isa ring positioned around the side of the reservoir at the bottom of thereservoir.
 9. The water dispenser of claim 8 wherein the diffuser ringis generally circular.
 10. The water dispenser of claim 8 wherein thereservoir has a center portion and the diffuser ring has openingspositioned to direct air emissions from the center portion of thereservoir.
 11. The water dispenser of claim 8 wherein the reservoirincludes a generally vertical sidewall and the diffuser ring ispositioned to discharge bubbles against the sidewall so that thesidewall is scrubbed with ozone bubbles during use.
 12. The waterdispenser of claim 7 wherein the ozone generator generates sufficientozone to sterilize the water in the reservoir by bubbling air upwardly adistance of just a few inches.
 13. The water dispenser of claim 7further comprising means for enabling the ozone generator to continue togenerate air flow into said ozone generator housing and air diffuser viafirst and second air flow lines for selected time after the ozonegenerator has been deactivated.
 14. The water dispenser of claim 7further comprising a transformer for generating high voltage electricityfor the ozone generator.
 15. The water dispenser of claim 7 furthercomprising a replenishing means that includes a central water inlet andthe diffuser ring is spaced horizontally away from the water inlet. 16.The water dispenser of claim 12 wherein bubbles rise upwardly a distanceof between about two and ten inches.
 17. The water dispenser of claim 12wherein bubbles rise upwardly a distance of between about four and eightinches. 18-37. (canceled)
 38. A cooled water dispenser, comprising: a) acabinet having a contained water dispensing system that includes a watersource, a reservoir, a porous diffuser having pores for emitting ozonebubbles, and a dispensing spigot; b) an ozone generator housingsupported by the cabinet, said housing having an ozone generator insidethe housing and one or more air flow lines for transmitting air and zonefrom the housing interior; c) an air flow line connecting the housinginterior with the porous diffuser; d) means for adding ozone to thewater dispensing system when the spigot is operated, said meansincluding the ozone generator, blower, porous diffuser, and flow lines;and e) wherein the diffuser generates bubbles of a size that is definedby the size of the pores of the diffuser.
 39. The water dispenser ofclaim 38 wherein the diffuser is a ring positioned around the side ofthe reservoir at the bottom of the reservoir.
 40. The water dispenser ofclaim 39 wherein the diffuser ring is generally circular.
 41. The waterdispenser of claim 39 wherein the reservoir has a center portion and thediffuser ring has openings positioned to direct air emissions from thecenter portion of the reservoir.
 42. The water dispenser of claim 39wherein the reservoir includes a generally vertical sidewall and thediffuser ring is positioned to discharge bubbles against the sidewall sothat the sidewall is scrubbed with ozone bubbles during use.
 43. Thewater dispenser of claim 38 wherein the ozone generator generatessufficient ozone to sterilize the water in the reservoir by bubbling airupwardly a distance of just a few inches.
 44. The water dispenser ofclaim 38 further comprising means for enabling the ozone generator tocontinue to generate air flow into said ozone generator housing and airdiffuser via first and second air flow lines for selected time after theozone generator has been deactivated.
 45. The water dispenser of claim38 further comprising a transformer for generating high voltageelectricity for the ozone generator.
 46. The water dispenser of claim 38further comprising a replenishing means that includes a central waterinlet and the diffuser ring is spaced horizontally away from the waterinlet.
 47. The water dispenser of claim 43 wherein bubbles rise upwardlya distance of between about two and ten inches.
 48. The water dispenserof claim 43 wherein bubbles rise upwardly a distance of between aboutfour and eight inches.